


Several Letters and Far Too Many Near Misses

by HydraCarnival



Category: Harry Potter - Fandom
Genre: Multi, Next Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-24
Updated: 2018-07-05
Packaged: 2018-07-26 09:01:15
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 20,286
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7568176
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HydraCarnival/pseuds/HydraCarnival
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The letter wasn’t signed with a name, rather another drawing. Unlike the snake on the front, it was a collection of stars. The constellation had been Albus’ favorite since the first Astronomy lesson with the Ravenclaws in his first year. He quickly grabbed out his own parchment and quill, ignoring the continued squeals of Rose, now joined by Lily who had finally awoken and was already begging Ginny to sign her Hogsmeade permission form. Shoving aside and paying no attention to the Hogwarts letter and the seemingly badge shaped bump in it-Albus began his letter. No real introduction, simply diving into his rant about how Scorpius Malfoy of all people needn’t worry about O.W.L. scores.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Do You Miss Me Like I Miss You?

A large, tangled mess of red hair was strewn across the large kitchen table. Morning light was streaming through the windows in waves, making its way over the treetops and into the home. The owner of the hair had only just fallen asleep at daybreak.

“ROSE?-WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE?” A voice came with two sets of pounding footsteps down the stairwell and the girl behind the mess of red locks jolted awake.

“Have I missed the letters?” She questioned frantically, “Mum said they would come any day now, oh I know I should have never let her leave so close to them being sent, and taking Hugo no less! I swear I could just-”

“Shove off Rose,” another boy came down the stairs in a much less boisterous manner, “what exactly are you on about? And why are you here,” the boy began questioning his cousin only to be interrupted (as usual).

“Well as you two know, however thick you are, our fathers are still in Iceland for the Ministry. And Mum has just barely took a portkey last night with Hugo to _another_ Magical Creature Rights convention in London for the week. Apparently with no time to apparate back and forth either. At any rate, your mum should have told you I’d be staying the night-”

This time it was the green-eyed boy’s turn to interject, “She did tell us,  but we’d assume you’d be in a guest bed, yeah? Not drooling where we eat!”

“Alright Al, that’s enough.” A warm voice called from the behind a cupboard. Age had done Ginny Weasley (Potter) well, her body still tone enough after several years of professional Quidditch and three kids. Her face had mellowed out some, however. The sharp and striking features had melted around her warm brown eyes to fit them perfectly. “Rose wanted a jumpstart on waiting for the mail, don’t act as though you boys didn’t do the same thing for weeks straight when you were younger.”

“That’s a bloody laugh-”

“ _LANGUAGE_ JAMES-”

“I can’t recall a time that I ever-”

“When you were a first year! And second year for that matter too, feared just the same as all of us they wouldn’t let you back-”

“Right, when I was _eleven_ I waited for mail. Rose, you’re nearly fifteen, what is quite the deal?”

The young redhead was in between a yawn, which she quickly stifled to answer. “How thick can you get, James? Fifth year is the year prefects are chosen and only once in the entire history of Hogwarts has a Head Girl been chosen that _wasn’t_ a prefect and how on Earth can I expect to be the youngest Head Healer at Mungo’s if I can’t even show leadership in school- _OH MY GOD THERE IT IS THERE’S THE OWL THERE’S THE POST_ ” Rose then sprinted out of the kitchen door towards the incoming bird. It slowed and dropped the letter into her hands, more accurately it reluctantly released the letter into her prying fingers.

Rose rushed back into the home almost as quickly as her face fell.

“For you, Al” She said softly, reaching out a trembling hand with the letter.

Albus Severus Potter noticed for the first time in a long time that receiving a letter no longer gave him butterflies or made his stomach flip. More often than not, depending on the sender, he felt a flood of relief in furthered correspondence. However, his heart did sink as his usual pen-pal was not the suspected author of this letter. After all, Rose had said they would expect their Hogwarts letters soon. But when he thanked Rose and flipped it over to pick at the usual red wax seal, he was surprised to see a smooth back. Turning it back over to the side with the address line, he noticed his letter was also lacking Hogwarts’ usual magic of knowing exactly where the recipient would be when the letter would be opened. The front was simply adorned with “A.S.P.” and a small drawing of the snake that bore the same name as Al’s initials. Only one person addressed letters to him with this configuration, but they also usually had a family crest sunk into a pool of deep emerald wax to seal any envelope that left from their home.

“It’s not any news from school Rose, at least nothing about prefects or book lists or anything. Probably one of my roommates, maybe Aslan got his letter and he’s sent word, he lives much closer to the castle…” Al trailed off with a distant look in his eyes, itching to tear into the letter and slowly inching back toward the stairs he had come from not too long ago.

Albus’ opportunity to break away came when Rose’s screams took up again, this time four owls flocking toward the house together. By the time the letters addressed “Rose Jane Weasley: Potter Residence Back Garden, James Sirius Potter: Potter Residence Kitchen, Albus Severus Potter: Potter Residence Stairwell, and Lily Luna Potter: Potter Residence Bedroom” were all handed out respectively (save Lily’s, as no amount of screaming could wake her this early any day), Al was more than halfway back into his room.

The click of his door could never block the continued screams of Rose as she called out to anyone who was listening in the surrounding twenty miles that she had been made the female Gryffindor prefect for their year. He could hear his mum congratulating both her and James, who had been reinstated for the third year as Quidditch captain for the same house. Albus, however, took nearly no notice to the letter bearing the wax seal.

More slowly than he would have preferred, in order to not tear any parchment, Al opened the nondescript with his replica Firebolt III letter opener. His heart sunk deeper into his chest as the Slytherin crest adorned the top of the page. Maybe it really was from Aslan then, Albus thought to himself sadly. Nevertheless, Albus scanned the page for the bottom of the blocks of writing for a signature. It was a bad habit he had gotten himself into due to an incident in the summer before his first year. James had sent him several fake letters, made to look like they were coming from Hogwarts, telling him he was a Squib and was rejected from his place at the school. The only giveaway that it wasn’t authentic was the signature at the bottom-every time-”You’re a thick idiot, why would you be the only one getting a letter when two people in this house go to this school.” It had happened not once, but twelve times before the real letter had arrived. But by then Albus checked the name at the bottom of the letter before reading a single word of it. His mother had been livid at the both of them, saying it was rude of him because he’d have an opinion on the letter before giving it a chance depending on the author. At least James had been grounded from playing Quidditch out back with Teddy for a whole month.

Al’s heart suddenly soared back up through his chest and felt as though it would pump its way right out of his mouth as the signature at the bottom of the page was exactly who he always wanted to hear from.

_Al-_

_I apologize for the parchment. Visiting Grandmother and Grandfather leaves very limited options and not one of them was about to take me into muggle OR wizarding Paris of all places to track down parchment paper. Do they (the muggles) even use it anymore? Regardless, they would never have my usual sort and if anything I would never send you a letter with Beauxbatons brandings. You already know I’m a poof. Jokes aside, I do have quite a few things to show you when we meet next. I even visited a few muggle shops with Grandmother, and I’ve picked you up a few bits here and there. I expect we’ll be back at the Manor in a week or so, and in London at Diagon Alley possibly the week after that. I would like to see you there, although I understand the struggle with your family._

_In other news, I suppose school letters to be coming soon, yeah? This year is prefect year, as I am sure your cousin has been ever anxiously awaiting. I also expect your brother has been made captain again? I’m sure both your parents are very proud. Well, your father may not know depending on whether or not he’s back yet. I would hope he is, this might not reach you for a while, the English Channel seems to be difficult for Grandfather’s owl for some reason. At any rate, speaking of captains, that arse Ventac seems to think he’s guaranteed the position this year. Talked about it non-stop once the season was over last year. Says he doesn’t care much about prefect for that reason, but I think he’s right thick. Firstly-the sixth year Maria Greysen will surely be captain over him, she’s a better player than him regardless of what he says and she’s more levelheaded. I reckon he’s just a misogynist who can’t handle being a female’s second hand, and Merlin, it’s the twenty-first century! And we’re supposed to be the smart ones, let alone progressive. Anyway, secondly everyone in our house gets stiff (clean up your mind, Albus) whenever the idea of prefect is brought up anytime after O.W.L.s come up. Once the stress of exams are over it’s like a bloodbath or something I suppose. Father was a prefect, mother as well, but I’m not sure how the legacy will uphold._

_I expect you and your cousin are granted though, don’t fret your brothers’ reputation, it can’t affect you where you are. You really don’t have much competition at all. I am truly more worried about my O.W.L.s, my exam results from this past year barely scraping O’s. I am trying my best to keep all my subjects still, and no you cannot talk me out of it. Well, you can talk me out of the ones I don’t pass in. If I even decide to return to Hogwarts after that shame. I feel bad for the bloke who gets it though, everyone else will make a targeted attempt to cause more chaos to distract him from his studies with his prefect responsibilities. At any rate, enough about school, I’m sure you’ve already fallen asleep reading this._

_I miss you, Al. I do every holiday. I’ve started talking my parents into letting me stay for winter hols, Mother is keen on more studying time but I know Father suspects something is going on. He doesn’t mind what I do nearly as much as his father did he, but he nevertheless is nosy as as all Hades. I expect he will give in eventually in an effort to NOT be like his father. Your family is likely still fine with it, right? I also assume Rose will try and get to Hogwarts before the first this year, and won’t even leave the library for Hogsmeade weekends. James might stay too, right? It’s his last year after all and he’s only stayed for Christmas the once, I think once one experiences it it’s hard to go back, no matter how homesick._

_Well, I’ve written more about you and yours again, my apologies. It’s getting late and the scratch of quill might wake someone, I don’t need a house elf attempting to quiet me again. See you soon, hopefully._

 

The letter wasn’t signed with a name, rather another drawing. Unlike the snake on the front, it was a collection of stars. The constellation had been Albus’ favorite since the first Astronomy lesson with the Ravenclaws in his first year. He quickly grabbed out his own parchment and quill, ignoring the continued squeals of Rose, now joined by Lily who had finally awoken and was already begging Ginny to sign her Hogsmeade permission form. Shoving aside and paying no attention to the Hogwarts letter and the seemingly badge shaped bump in it-Albus began his letter. No real introduction, simply diving into his rant about how Scorpius Malfoy of all people needn’t worry about O.W.L. scores.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Scorpius! Wake up love, you’ve mail!” The boy stirred at the calm voice of his mother calling through the door. He slipped out of his four poster, not unsimilar to the one in which he spent his nights back at school. His blonde hair cascaded past his ears in a way that made his entire family cringe, but they had long since given up on making every extension of the Malfoy name represent what it once did. In fact, they tended to do the exact opposite. When Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy had been sorted into Ravenclaw rather than Slytherin like every last one of his ancestors, his remaining, un-imprisoned relatives were relieved. He strolled over to the door, noticing his mother had slipped his letters under the door along with a note of her own that read ‘ _The Hogwarts one looks a bit thicker than usual’_ , which was Astoria Malfoy’s subtle way of implying Scorpius had been made prefect.

Though neither of them would admit it, both of his parents had been hoping for the past fifteen years that Scorpius would be held to a high standard, one that he earned for himself. But Scorpius had never been athletically gifted, and couldn’t follow his father’s footsteps in Quidditch (although Draco Malfoy had used his family money and status to gain his spot, he probably could have earned it regardless a year or so down the line. Draco wasn’t half bad when it came to hasty grabs at shiny objects. He’s since come to know that all that glitters isn’t gold). Astoria also worried that Scorpius would lack in school as he was rarely attentive in her homeschooling lessons in his youth. But after first term reports had come in his first year at Hogwarts, the Malfoys realized that their son was a-for lack of a better word-genius. He thrived in the atmosphere partly because it was more difficult, but also because it was more competitive. Scorpius had his chance to forge a new name for himself and his family by being the top of his class. Which he had been easily for his entire schooling career.

His lack of attentivity in childhood had crept back in his second year, for the same reason as when he was young: he was bored. The material was simply too easy. Because of this, Scorpius had been given special permission by Headmistress McGonagall to enroll in the elective classes that usually began in a student’s third year. He was initially shocked that he was being given special treatment, but McGonagall had been quick to tell him that it was not the first time she had entrusted a form of special treatment with a student, and that she trusted he would use his opportunity just as well as students in the past had. His parents had nearly burst with pride. In fact, the Malfoys completely disregarded Scorpius’ disregard for the broomstick and even stopped worrying about his capability for prefect, at least for a while.

Because of this, though, Scorpius could expect to hear back about his four O.W.L. results from the year previous. He had wanted to take all of the offered courses, but McGonagall forbade him, questioning how he would manage to be in multiple places at once. She did however promise that once he reached his fifth year he would be allowed to add on two more classes, as the formal O.W.L year had less class periods for core classes, supposedly leaving more time for studying. He had had a hard time narrowing the list down both times he was given the opportunity to select them. His parents were not an extreme help, as only five course were offered when they attended. With eleven courses, the usual student would miss SEVEN subjects if they took the maximum allowed amount! Nevertheless, he had chosen Arithmancy and Ancient Runes first, after hearing they were the most difficult choices. Next he wanted more advanced and possibly more dangerous classes, but McGonagall drew the line (it was then that she offered them to him as a fifth year start). Scorpius reluctantly settled for Study of Magical Objects, as they truly intrigued him and the class was rumored to have a section highlighting some dark objects that had been used in the war. For his final selection of the four, as a shock to seemingly everyone in the wizarding world, he picked Muggle Studies. As far as he knew at the time, his parents were not against muggles. They just didn’t know anything about them. After learning his family’s history of hatred, it was Scorpius’ turn to be shocked when his father would drill him about what he had learned over every break.

Scorpius first opened the letter marked with CONFIDENTIAL: STUDENT O.W.L. RESULTS in large red letters. He gazed through his marks, setting back down the four straight O’s while slipping into a daydream about the advanced electives he would be taking the coming year. Occlumency had apparently been a very controversial addition, but was pushed heavily by several war heroes. It was saved for a post-O.W.L. option due to it’s level of mental maturity, as opposed to his second selection. He was possibly more excited about Alchemy, as it was a fusal of his two favorite subjects: Potions and Transfiguration. Alchemy was not taught until a (usual) student’s sixth year, as the proper knowledge of both subjects was required. McGonagall said she would pull him right from the two N.E.W.T. lessons if his grades showed even signs of slipping from their lofty level in ANY of his core subjects. The both of them knew that his grades would only go up if they had the room, and neither were bothered.

The daydream was thrust from his mind as Scorpius came out of his reverie, focusing back in on the rest of the papers on his desk. He had the oddly bulging Hogwarts letter, likely holding his book list and maybe another something, but two other envelopes lay unopened. Wanting to investigate everything, he started at the top of the pile. A sense of excitement but worry washed over Scorpius as the bronze Ravenclaw prefect pin landed on the tabletop with a slight clunk. He knew his parents would be proud, his fellow Ravenclaws jealous, other friends excited for him, but he immediately thought about a few things. One of the first of those things being the fact that not all of his friends would be able to share the excitement with him. He pushed these thoughts from his mind as he focused in on a problem that he promised himself would be more important: schoolwork. He would be taking a total of twelve courses this year (the seven core classes, the two new advanced electives, and only three of his four original electives. Study of Magical Objects ended at O.W.L level). Prefect duties on top of that might be too difficult.

Once again forcing himself to push thoughts away, the fifteen year old turned to the remaining letters. Scorpius’ stomach lurched in the most pleasant way as he immediately recognized the emerald green ink that read “ _Your granddad’s stupid owl took ages to bring your letter, judging by your timestamp and the day I received it. I’m sending Almond with this and I’ve told him to stay with you until you’ve written a response so I can receive word more quickly.”_ Scorpius felt his stomach lurch again when he realized someone other than him had read the message on the front, silently cursing Albus for never addressing a letter normally. Although, he calmed because as his mother brought him the letters, she most likely intercepted all of them before another member of his family had the chance. He wouldn’t be surprised if he would find Al’s owl up on the perch of the attic with his Grandfather’s “stupid owl.”

Scorpius knew he would be in a very good mood after Albus’ response to his own most recent correspondence, and decided to give his attention to the final letter. It turned out to be word that the old Hogwarts professor Horace Slughorn had died. Peacefully and in his sleep, but nevertheless Scorpius saw it as a great loss. Professor Slughorn had, in his own words, “overstayed his welcome” when he had returned to the school for the third time once it had been fully restored after the war, complete with newly refurbished potion labs and stocks. When he had first met the man, Scorpius felt as though he disliked him. But his mother had gotten along with the man perfectly well when she was in school and Potions had been his father’s best subject. But it had been Scorpius’ own talent and charm that made him a Slughorn favorite by the time he retired at the end of the boy’s second year. The two wrote back and forth infrequently as the man grew more elderly and ill in conjunction. Scorpius didn’t realize he had shed a tear until it had nearly smudged out the date of the funeral he had been invited to. Slughorn had also left him some items in his will that would be given to him at the event. Scorpius wasn’t extremely close to the man, but it had been him who sparked the love of Potions in Scorpius’ young mind. He gingerly set the letter aside and refocused his attention to something that would surely cheer him up. He delayed his reading for a moment as he realized that it had been written the same day as it arrived. Maybe Grandfather’s owl truly was stupid.

_My Most Dearly Beloved Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy,_

_You always write more about my family than yours, because you never want to talk about them. I’d hope you’ve gotten your O.W.L. results back by now, you officially owe me two galleons because you officially got 4 O’s before anyone else in our year has even taken the exams yet. Also, congratulations on becoming a prefect, which I am sure you’ve also been honored with. You’ll be pleased to know that one certain Rose Weasley will be joining the force with you this year, as well as, well, yours truly! I know, I was just as shocked as you are right now. Just another ploy to get me in the Slug Club I bet, but Dad’s reckoned that ol’Horance might not be around to see anyone in a role of power this year. Bit grim, that is. Dad was gone for a while though. They’d just sent out the third string of Aurors as well. But no matter, everyone seems to be back._

_Well. Speaking of Dad, he’s just come back from his Ministry job and if I am overhearing him correctly with Mum Slughorn DID just bite it. You know me, I’m too lazy to cross any of that out or rewrite it. I hope this isn’t the first you’re hearing of his death though. I know you liked him._

_Anyway, I fully expect you to be here for winter hols, Scor. James has already told Mum and Dad he’ll be staying for both breaks this year, something no one in our family but Dad has ever done. At this and my own absence they’re planning on taking Lily to America to hear some muggle band that her and her dormmates are obsessed with. I only expect that there’s a muggleborn in with them who’s started the uproar. Even my Mum has a crush on the lead singer, even though he’s like twenty, and I assume that’s why they’re all going. Rose pretended to not know if she’d be staying but now claims that it is her ‘civic duty as a prefect’ to remain year-round. And hey, that’s another card you can play to your family._

_I fully expect you to be in London soon, I miss you like wild. I’m starting to think I’ll need to skin Uncle George for some of his trick love potion to get you to pay me any attention anymore. I don’t have much time for talk now, but the Diagon dates are in the calendar already. I can’t wait._

_-Al_

_PS: I’m not sure if you’ve fully read the prefects intro letter yet-I surely haven’t, but Rose hasn’t stopped babbling about our responsibilities I don’t think I’ll need to. At any rate, the Head girl and boy are from my house and yours, respectively. Just cool, I thought. Maybe they’ll be a bit bias to us. See you soon._

Scorpius could barely peel the smile off his face at the thoughts racing through his head after reading Albus’ messy but legible (barely, quite honestly) handwriting. He wanted to read the prefects’ requirements for himself and he was so focused on the fact that Albus would never need to use a love potion on Scorpius to get its namesake effect that he didn’t make the connection between the date of Slughorn’s funeral and the day the two had planned to meet in Diagon Alley.


	2. Veiled Hints That Revealed in Half Concealing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mr. Scorpius Malfoy-  
> I do hope this finds you in better health than it leaves me. I won’t waste any time. I spent the last few months of my life brewing some of the hardest potions, to give to some of the best students. I have left you with five-

Every Potter rose their eyebrows and Harry even had to beg pardon, convinced he had heard his eldest son incorrectly.

“Well, I had the man for quite some time, didn’t I? Sure, I never let him ‘collect’ me, per your wishes, but I have quite a few friends attending, and how much of a Gryffindor would I be if I wasn’t there for my friends?” James continued to rattle off his reasons for needing to attend Slughorn’s funeral in a singular breath as Albus rolled his eyes. 

James had disliked Professor Slughorn more than anyone. Harry had thought it was ironic that both he and his son harbored a hatred for their potions masters, the only difference being that Harry disliked Snape because Snape was awful, while James disliked Slughorn because he was nice. James would have described him as more overbearing. Albus was more than completely positive that James and whatever friends of him would be in attendance would play some moronic prank on the deceased man. And no, that is not something anyone could put past James Sirius Potter. 

Albus never cared for Slughorn either. As his Head of House, he was forced to deal with the man more often than he would have wished. He would have never wished death upon him, though. In fact-Albus had warmed up to him during their second year when Scorpius convinced him to come to Slughorn’s Halloween-feast-after-party. He had had more fun with Scorpius, obviously, but the highlight of the night was when Slughorn told stories from when their parents had been students at Hogwarts. Albus felt himself gain some level of respect when the attention was taken away from The Chosen One and put onto his wife, The Girl With The Sick Bat-Bogey Hex. He even somehow managed to put on a strong face and steer Scorpius away from the conversation when it turned to Slughorn’s retelling of the Death Eaters. Scorpius knew about his family’s past, yes, but Albus nonetheless felt a need to protect him. Luckily, Albus standing up from the table and grabbing Scor’s arm to leave alerted Slughorn of the time and he promptly sent everyone to bed. Albus knew he would never admit it, but Scorpius had been completely shook up. No amount of protesting could stop Albus from walking Scorpius all the way up to Ravenclaw tower, even though he would then be returning to the dungeons where the party had been held. That was when they became as close as they were today. Inseparable, really. 

Albus never went to another one of Slughorn’s parties. Both he and Scorpius were gone for the holidays and the only other bash available was the Valentine’s dance, which the boys agreed would be a day better spent flinging dungbombs from the guard tower at couples leaving to Hogsmeade for the day. Although Albus was sure Scorpius was a little disappointed about the party (he assumed it was because Slughorn always convinced the house elves to make Scorpius’ favorite desserts), he himself could not have been more pleased to nail James in the back of the head as he exited the castle alone. Albus found a particular pleasure in catching his brother do anything wrong, but ruining whatever date his older sibling had had was like icing on a cake. It was even better that it must have been a very important date, as James was mad at Albus until spring holiday. 

Albus focused back in on the present as Harry explained that he would have to stay with Uncle Ron along with Lily and Hugo, as the four of them were the only ones out of the two families who decided not to attend the funeral. Albus gave his protests about making plans with friends at Diagon Alley the same weekend, and-against Ginny’s wishes-Albus was given permission by his dad to stay at the Leaky Cauldron by himself for two nights, to be joined by the rest of the family once they returned from the funeral. 

It was a quiet morning after Ron had escorted him through the floo, most of his time was spent lazing around and picking out the outfit he planned on wearing when he met up with Scorpius-not that Al would have admitted it. It was convenient timing then, that an owl came swooping in with a letter just as Albus was about to walk out the door (wearing a dark green t-shirt that Scorpius mentioned he liked once). The owl had already dropped the letter on his bed and was leaving before Albus even had the chance to offer it a drink from Almond’s cage. His owl was flying above the inn, presumably catching some stray rats. Albus felt a smile creep up on his cheeks as he identified the tell-tale snake drawing.

_ Al, _

_ I’m sorry, I hope this letter gets to you in time. I have to cancel our Diagon Alley time. As you obviously know, Professor Slughorn passed and he had apparently left some things in his will for me. I have to go to the funeral to retrieve them, although I would probably be in attendance regardless. You should come along with your family, I’m sure at least one of them is going to be there.  _

_ But in regard to your latest, yes, I did make four O’s and yes I will be joining you and Rose in the prefect task force. I’ll get you your damn Galleons. I’ve read the prefects letter a few times over, and I’m a bit nervous about my workload on top of these new responsibilities. Mother and Father are absolutely delighted, though. They’ve said they’ll do the shopping in Diagon for me while I attend the funeral, as neither of them wish to join me. You know how they are about public affairs. I protested at first but of course this means they will return with a congratulatory present of some sort and I have had my eyes on a new scales set which would come in extremely handy for Alchemy. This does of course mean I will probably not see you until we are on the train. We can sit together though, just like always.  _

_ -Scorpius _

Albus wanted to bang his head against the wall for being so moronic as to forget that of course Slughorn’s favorite student would be invited to his funeral, and would not be so quick to skip out on it to meet up with someone at Diagon Alley. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Scorpius tapped his foot impatiently as he waited for Slughorn’s lawyer to give him whatever it is that the man left him so that he could go home. The funeral had been sad, definitely, but most of the people in attendance couldn’t even pretend to believe half the things that were said about the man. It was obvious that he had written his own eulogy and speeches for friends to say in advance. The large party that followed was obviously Slughorn’s style, but the mix of grief and celebration left the crowd in an awkward stupor. Finally, the short man wielding the will bid his farewell from another Hogwarts student and made his way over to Scorpius. 

“Mr. Malfoy is it?” The man reached out to shake his hand and began the preamble of the will. “...and how much of a joy you were in his class. He has left you this book on potion making as well as a few vials of, erm,  _ suspicious  _ looking liquids. But he paid me quite a bit of money to keep his wishes disclosed, and who am I to turn down any gold?” Gold, yes. Scorpius was delighted to see that while the man was very much like Slughorn himself in his pursuit of riches, he was clever enough to make a specific note of color. One of the five vials held a shimmering potion Scorpius knew like the back of his hand. Felix Felicis. He had a few guesses as to what the other four might contain, but he couldn’t be sure. 

He had flooed back to Malfoy Manor shortly after he bid the man farewell, not without a brief hello to some of his schoolmates and distant relatives. He even managed a smile and a wave to the Potter/Weasleys who were present, attempting to hide the fact that he was upset Albus wasn’t one of them. He felt bad for cancelling, but normally people didn’t die more than once, and Scorpius was fairly certain Slughorn hadn’t made any horcruxes. Or that he had it in him, really. From what they learned about the objects in Study of Magical Objects-which wasn’t much-he didn’t think the old man could have murdered anyone, let alone follow any of the other steps. He shoved the ideas of death and destruction from his mind as he stepped out into the bright white of the Malfoy’s floo room. The house elves had placed some charm on the room that immediately cleared any dust that came from the fireplace. 

It was a grand room. As tall as most single family homes yet not nearly as wide, the room was lined on two sides by windows that let in streams of sunlight. Scorpius had grown up hearing stories of the dark and mysterious place the Manor had previously been, but he had trouble even imagining it. Once his grandfather had been released from prison and moved to France with Grandmother, Scorpius’ father had completely redone it all himself. Certain rooms were simply sealed off permanently, Draco not daring attempt to scrub the horrors from those walls. The house was overall pure. Nearly every square inch was covered in white paint and sparkling crystal chandeliers and shining marble floors. Scorpius would call no where else home. Except Hogwarts.

He bade his mother and father hello before heading to the wing of the Manor that held his rooms. He didn’t have many friends over, but when they did they all had a ball. The room closest to the family living space was formerly his playroom, now serving as a foyer to his own personal space. Next came a lounge and a bathroom, respectively. The last and largest room of the wing was his bedroom, a room that none of his friends had ever been in. Except Albus, of course. But Albus wasn’t really a friend. Wasn’t really just a friend. In the sense that, well. Scorpius had to stop himself before he went down that rabbit hole again by reminding himself they  _ were  _ more than just friends. Albus was his best friend. His best friend that he thought about all the time and wanted to be with all the time and maybe sometimes didn’t want to be best friends with but be just as close with just maybe  different title. And now Scorpius was really bashing himself in the head. 

To distract himself further, he opened the book from Slughorn and tried to read some of it, regretting for the first time in his life that he didn’t have any summer homework left to do. He would have settled for some advanced potion reading, but his attention was taken by the note that fell out of the book. 

_ Mr. Scorpius Malfoy- _

_ I do hope this finds you in better health than it leaves me. I won’t waste any time. I spent the last few months of my life brewing some of the hardest potions, to give to some of the best students. I have left you with five- _

 

  * __Gregory’s Unctuous Unction: Gives the taker an overwhelming feeling of friendship towards the giver, will turn any enemy into a friend.__


  * _Invisibility Potion: You’re a smart enough boy for this one. However, it is so potent that each single drop will render you invisible for ten minutes._


  * _Veritaserum: The strongest truth serum known to man. But how I’ve brewed it, it can force the mere thoughts out of the taker._


  * _Amorentia: Similarly, the most powerful love potion. And again, I have brewed it in a special way. As you know, love potions merely invoke infatuation. This brew of Amorentia will produce a smell that is uniquely attractive to every individual, but will also force one’s deepest desires to fill their thoughts as long as they are around it. I would not recommend letting anyone ingest it, though. Because of it’s nature, it will not make them become infatuated with you, but rather the subject of their deepest desires (and if you are giving them a love potion, that suggests you are not that person)._


  * _Felix Felicis: Do not go overboard. One teaspoon will do the trick for the whole day, and there is enough for a week full of perfect days. Not a consecutive week. Too much luck will go to your head. Do not be foolish._



 

Scorpius was floored. He started to write Albus a letter, but he still hadn’t heard from him after his cancellation letter, and the blond was worried his best friend was angry with him. Also, this would be a good way to prank Albus, who always seemed to be pulling the wool over his eyes. And the idea of a love potion was tempting, especially as the other young man always seemed to be joking about it. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ended with a letter from not-Al because of reasons. This chapter was kinda a filler (I know the SECOND chapter being a filler what's wrong with me) but I needed to get done with it for some filler information. So so sorry it's short but I started writing the next chapter before this one was done-oops-and it looks like it'll be longer. Also, I apologize in advance for any plot holes within the story but also in regard to the HP universe as a whole. I'm trying to keep this as canonically sound as possible. (Chap title from my favorite short story: The Story of An Hour by Katie Chopin. It fits the foreshadowing element of this one really well) PLEASE let me know what you think! I have a lot planned for this beauty.


	3. This Ride is a Wild One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Albus stood mouth agape and Jamie sighed and started walking away calling back to tell him she’d meet him back up front once he’d had a minute to process. Scorpius realized that his back was still pressed against Albus’ front, and that Albus’s chin was now resting on top of his, even as he finally closed his dropped jaw. Scorpius jolted away a bit too quickly and Albus’ reflects kicked in leading him to grab onto Scorpius’ wrists, finally pulling him into a hug. Before he could relax into him Albus pulled back and looked at him quizzically.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've added a lot of new original character here as well as messed around with the ages of some canon characters so bear with me. I am trying to keep it as authentic as possible but after all this is a next gen AU and there's only so much I can do. Enjoy!

Albus felt his shoulders physically release every ounce of tension that had built up over the summer as he spotted the freshly trimmed blond hair rounding the corner where the entrance to the platform was. He wanted to laugh at how silly his best friend looked with shorter hair, as he usually let it completely grow out until his mother made him cut it, Al wanted nothing more than to sprint into his arms. Although if he did he would most likely knock the shorter boy over. But no, he waited cooly for the family of three to stroll over and bid Albus a polite hello. Things were still awkward between their fathers, but as both had worked in the Ministry for nearly two decades now, it was more friendly than awkward. Uncle Ron was another story, but the three men played nice for a few moments before Astoria spotted her sister Daphne a few pillars over, and made a fuss about how Scorpius needed to see them off. 

“It isn’t like I’ll be seeing my cousin just about everyday when we’re at school, right?” Scorpius’s stormy light blue eyes rolled under his abnormally long lashes and Al felt both a jolt of electricity and a pang of longing as Scorpius’ arm lingered on Albus’ shoulder before brushing off and following his parents. It wasn’t long after this too-brief meeting that James started on about how he needed to get a compartment in a carriage far away from the prefect’s all the while Rose was dragging Al by his collar  _ towards  _ the prefect’s carriage so they could ready themselves. His mood was lifted significantly when he remembered Scorpius would be joining them. 

He had never been this far up on the train, right next to the the door leading to the conductor's cabin (which also housed the food trolley). The prefects carriage was unlike the others, which all had a set of compartments with six chairs each. This carriage held four compartments with six seats as well, but each was marked with a plaque and a crest designating it for each of the houses. In addition, there was an open space at the back of the carriage with a large meeting desk facing the door that led to the rest of the train. Rose took no time in shuffling her way into the Gryffindor compartment, smiling brightly at the sixth and seventh year girls that had also already made their way in. The Slytherin compartment was third from the front, right in between Ravenclaw and Gryffindor. He waved to Rose as he slid the door open and was greeted by a hoot.

“AH! Al, we KNEW it’d be you, tell him Tommy, tell him how we KNEW!” A tall, thin girl with raven black hair and perfectly tanned skin tugged on the sleeve of a boy with the same complexion. 

“Yes, Esther,  _ you  _ surely had your money on Potter. I am in no way surprised or displeased.” The Zabini twins were a year above Albus, both having been made prefect and both being decently good friends with the younger Slytherin. Thomas Zabini was the Seeker on the Slytherin team, much to Harry’s dismay-he had hoped his son would acquire the position. But Albus had been more than happy to take the left Chaser position, always having fun facing off with his brother (center Chaser) whenever the two houses had a match. 

“I was a bit worried it might be Aslan over you.” A short, brunette girl slid into the seat next to Al as she continued “It would have been a nightmare to work with him.”

“Hah, as if you’d mind working with the boyfriend Lucy!” Albus and the twins had trouble stifling their laughter as she blushed red. Although, Al found himself very thankful he had Lucy as his partner, as opposed to one of the other Slytherin fifth years. 

The four had a good talk about their summers until the departure time grew more narrowly close, and Albus had completely forgotten to see if Scorpius had made it into the Ravenclaw compartment or not. While Thomas was crying of laughter telling a story about Esther-who was hurriedly shushing him-they were interrupted by a calm yet eerie voice that had poked in through the door.

“Alright, settle down you lot. It’s time for the meeting.” Tibus Gern was the seventh year prefect, and rumor had it that he was quite upset he was not chosen as Head Boy. But everyone knew Headmistress McGonagall didn’t chose the Head boy/girl from the same house, meaning she would have to pick between the two best candidates. 

Albus questioned if her decision was the right one as an exasperated Evelina Errested came bounding in through the door that Albus had learned led to the Quidditch captains and club presidents carriage (which James had never mentioned). 

“Ready to get going then, Ben?” She seemed to be out of breath as the Head Boy, Benjamin Wilbertson of Ravenclaw, came out of the conductor's cabin and gave a thumbs up. 

“Ready as I’ll ever be, set to depart in five.”

“Wonderful,” her response was anything but easy going, “I suppose everyone should have a seat then!” 

Albus had never been great friends with Evelina, but he knew enough about her to know that just about every boy and half the girls on the train were jealous that he was here with her. She was coveted, to say the least. Her usually honey colored blonde hair had been bleached out by the sun, some rumors had circulated that she was part of an internship program for the Curse Breakers in Egypt, and her ocean blue eyes scanned the room to count up the lot. After making sure everyone was present, she began the lecture on the extreme importance of their duties, the priority of the safety of the students, blah blah blah. Al truly could have fallen asleep, if not for the view he had. Scorpius was listening so intently, likely taking mental notes as opposed to the physical copy Rose had in her hands. It was always entertaining to watch the two.  She concluded the speech with more warnings and words of advice as she handed the floor over to Ben, who excitedly explained the privileges they had. Even the returning prefects were buzzing about the access to the special bathrooms and other secret meeting spots hidden throughout the school. 

“Maps?” The new female prefect from Hufflepuff asked quizzically as Evelina passed around seemingly blank pieces of parchment. 

“Yes, maps! This is the best part of the gig! We all only just got them recently.” A seventh year from the back of the group whispered. 

“You just tap it with your wand and say ‘I solemnly swear I am going to do good’ and you’ll get a full map of the castle, along with the location of everyone inside. A bit of properly cool magic really, developed by some former students. When you’re done just tap it again and it goes back to being a regular looking parchment scrap.” Evelina had calmed down significantly, her earlier behavior being brushed off by everyone as nerves. She was now passing around a basket to the fifth years. “Pull out a name and that’s who you’ll do patrol with for today and the first two weeks of school, just so you can get the hang of it, and sixth years, since you’re off the hook for this can you all sort out your first round of partners amongst yourselves? Thanks a million.” Albus unfolded the piece of paper he had grabbed to read ‘Jamie Hansel, Hufflepuff’ and scanned the room to find the elder girl standing in her yellow-and-black-clad robes. After catching her eye and brandishing his paper, she walked over and formally introduced herself. 

Jamie was a really nice girl, Albus decided his first impression of her after they busted some third years attempting to lock a first year in the loo. Jamie had written them up with just a warning and her voice got very low when she told them she hoped she wouldn’t run into them causing anymore trouble. The teens looked like they could have peed their pants, good thing they were right near the loo. Yes, Jamie was a very nice girl indeed. 

She had also been patient in the questions he wouldn’t stop asking her. He found out everything he needed to know without someone rolling their eyes or being condescending. Seventh years patrolled with fifth years at the start and end of the trip, paired up in order to show the younger prefects the ropes, and the sixth years took a single shift around lunch time, although they were required to cover more space as there were less of them. Conveniently, as if controlled by the magic of the train, there were 16 carriages on the train that held normal student compartments, just enough for each seventh/fifth year pair to be in charge of two sections. Albus had originally assumed that he’d have plenty of free time in between rotations to finally catch up with Scorpius, but as soon as Jamie had finished explaining the way the nighttime patrols were organised, he asked a question he wasn’t ready to hear the answer to. 

“When d’ya expect we’ll be back? I’m just about starved.”

“Oh Al, they really don’t give a good idea of what you’re getting yourself into. We haven’t even done half of our compartments yet, and even when we’ve completed them we have to work all the way to the back before we can go back to the front, protocol.” Jamie answered with an understanding tone. 

“But, but wait!” Al begun to panic, “I thought we’d have a bit of free time?”

“Well, it’s already almost time for the sixth years to get out, and by the time we get back we’ll have maybe twenty minutes before the first of that group comes back, and once they do it’s our cue to start night rounds. Ample help must be available at all times, it’s our job.” This time, Jamie added a slight shrug as she pulled open the door of the next compartment. 

“AL!” Lily bounded into the arms of her brother, nearly flattening him, and began to preen over her “precious little prefect”. Jamie held back laughter as she asked the usual questions, making sure everyone was good in every possible way. Jamie assured Albus she would take care of the next compartment (“I peeked in, it’s just first years”) so that he could have a quick chat with his sister. He wished desperately he could have played a game of Exploding Snap, or stayed longer to hear how her friends’ summers had been, but he only had time to briefly update her on his duties. 

“Yuck, remind me to never be a prefect. Oh, and Al-” she began as he was turning to grab the door, “I was told to give you this when the Head Girl walked by earlier. I can’t believe you’re already in trouble!”

But Albus was smiling to himself as he pulled the door shut behind him and waited for Jaime to return to the aisle so they could finish their rounds. He knew just by looking at the scrap of parchment that it wasn’t from Evelina, because it had her name on it. Scorpius had used the slip that gave him his partner to write an incredibly short message to the green eyed boy.

_ I’m going to go crazy if I can’t see you soon. Well-I already saw you. But seeing isn’t what I mean. You know what I mean. Agh. Just. The first spare moment we get let’s find each other-yes? Here’s your bet money.  _

Two shiny gold Galleons weighed down the note, and Albus knew in that moment that the half hour they would have in between patrols could in no way ever come soon enough. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Scorpius couldn’t remember the last time he had laughed so hard. Well, actually, he could. Albus had written him a particularly hilarious bit of satire right when school had let out, but that’s besides the point. Evelina had him busting a gut every word she spoke. Everyone knew who she was even without the title, so it proved to just further had a sense of intimidation. She told him how worth it it was to be in charge of the last two sections, because 1. Once they were done they didn’t have to walk to  the back of the train because they were already there and 2. The best troublemakers always hung out back there. He didn’t really believe her until they had begun writing people up, on their way to fulfilling their quotas. 

As Evelina had explained, McGonagall had set up a seemingly complicated but otherwise absolutely practical system of prefect control. Whenever someone was caught doing something they shouldn’t be, House points and a detention time would be given correspondingly. The catch, however, was that the prefect who wrote up the detention was the one who had to oversee it until they reached their quota detention minutes for each month. Once they had their full set of minutes, those who needed more would have to take over the detentions for them. House points being taken away was put in place to make sure prefects wouldn’t be filling their quotas by giving their friends detention then simply goofing off with them. It still happened anyway. 

And even though House rivalries were reserved purely for Quidditch and securing their house colors at the end of the year feast, Scorpius was thankful to be in the presence of a Slytherin as they went from compartment to compartment. The issue of dark wizardry had been pushed aside and it had almost wormed its way into the spot of most respected House, in a “don’t mess with us” kind of way. But really, the Houses had become less of an identity and more of a “this is where I sleep” situation. Regardless, Houses were still based off of the Sorting Hat’s keen ability to read and predict personalities, so the mixture of Slytherin and Head girl was enough to make anyone’s head spin. Thankfully for Scorpius he and Evelina went way back, and he wasn’t  _ really  _ scared of her anymore. 

The second to last carriage was full of compartments that were full of seventh years, with a few sixth years thrown in for good measure here and there. Scorpius had been the most amused by the last compartment of the block that held a group of Hufflepuffs who seemed to be experimenting with Muggle drugs. By the time they were halfway through with their assignment Evelina was one write up away from reaching her quota, which was higher than normal as she was Head girl. For some reason she looked very nervous about this, but brushed it off as she told Scorpius she had never finished the quota on the train, even when she was assigned to the back cabins in her fifth year just like him. Scorpius himself could not be more pleased with the results of the afternoon, even though he knew the first weeks of school would be full of him attending to various detentions. Not to mention how on the first day of school the House point hourglasses would catch up with the points he-and everyone else-had taken away on the train. A fair few being from his own Ravenclaw. 

The very last carriage was probably enough to fill every prefects quota. One of the compartments had clothing strewn about the room in a very inappropriate appearing manner, but as quite a few of Evelina’s close friends were present they were able to convince her that they  _ really  _ were just messing around with the different color scheme combos of the Houses. Evelina wasn’t actually convinced, but it was obvious even she didn’t want to write them up. By the time they reached the end of the train, to the VERY last compartment, Evelina looked like she was torn between crying, laughing, and laying down to take a nap. Scorpius could see through the open shades of the compartment that James Potter, his gang, and their things were strewn about the room.

Scorpius could no longer read Evelina’s face, as she was making an expression he rarely saw her use, but she was definitely not looking forward to this one. James’ two biggest cronies were his cousins; Fred and Louis Weasley, who sat across from each other in the seats closest to the door, acting almost as guards. Both sixth years, and both Gryffindor, the two were closer than brothers. Tall as skyscrapers and just as lanky, the two had been brewing up more trouble than anyone else in the entire Potter/Weasley clan, which according to Albus was quite a bit. But they were the only other Gryffindors present. 

Throughout the years, James had collected plenty of friends from each House. The core of this group was James himself and his three best friends, each hailing from each of the three other Houses. They had apparently met on their first Hogwarts train ride and vowed to remain friends regardless of House. Allegedly, in their six years they had done the most to interconnect and break down rivalries. This had begun (rumors said) in the first month of their first year when each of the boys managed to sneak the others into their common rooms, making four eleven year old boys the only known students to ever be present in all four dormitories. The only one Scorpius knew well was Michael, the Ravenclaw, but everyone knew the names of all four regardless of House or friendship. Yes, it was hard to ignore James the Gryffindor, Trevor the Hufflepuff, Michael the Ravenclaw, and Ignatius the Slytherin, especially with all of their wild antics that threw them immediately into instant, wild popularity. 

Albus had told Scorpius he suspected it was the help of some magical item his father had given his brother, as Albus had received something himself. It wasn’t until their third year that Albus revealed to Scorpius that he was in possession of an invisibility cloak, but not just any old invisibility cloak. Albus had listened to Scorpius rant about the myth of The Deathly Hallows for a whole year when he took Study of Magical Objects, and didn’t tell him that the story was true or that he was in possession of one of them. Even Albus didn’t know what his brother had been given, though. The two agreed that it must be very good, and that James had probably been given it in his first year just as Albus had been given the cloak. 

Suddenly, Evelina jolted open the door with a wave of her wand addressing Scorpius over her departing shoulder “Wait here.”

“Ahh, the lovely lovely, Victorie and Dom bid you a hello, they figured you would be doing rounds back here, Evelina.” Louis Weasley had his strawberry blonde hair longer on the top and flowing down into a very Bill-esq ponytail, and long pointed nose rose into the air with an extreme air of superiority. He opened his mouth as if planning on saying something else, but he was quickly interrupted.

“Eve-Evelina, I thought you were, I didn’t think you could-” Scorpius saw James bolt up from his spot at the Wizard Chess board and turn bright red, fiddling with his hair and stumbling both physically and with his words until he focused in on her Head girl badge and seemed to remember that she was in a clear position of authority, meaning he had to try and undermine her. “Come to bust us for something then? Well you’ll both be displeased to discover that we aren’t doing anything wrong. You know me, Evelina, I would never be doing anything wrong on the way to Hogwarts! Can’t lose points before we’ve even had the chance to gain any, right?”

“As you might remember, James Sirius, my brother and I happened to catch you doing plenty of  _ wrong  _ things just two short years ago.” Scorpius could feel the venom seeping through her words as he recalled a story she had told him while they took a break earlier. Her older brother Rowan had been Head boy when she became a prefect in her fifth year, and he was the one who told her how much more fun patrolling the back of the train was. They caught James and his group doing whatever it was that caused them all to lose more points than ever before, and they had apparently been better behaved for two weeks, the longest stretch in history. 

Scorpius also couldn’t help but notice Evelina use both of James’ names, something he suspected few people knew. He himself only knew because Albus had told him his siblings full names third year to convince Scorpius that he didn’t need to call him Albus Severus, and that in fact he didn’t even need to say  _ Albus  _ because he went by Al and James Sirius went by Jay and Lily Luna went by Lil, or Double L, or even Lul, or whatever she felt like that week. It still took Scorpius about another six months to drop the Severus. He still hadn’t ever called him Al. Scorpius must have missed something while reminiscing, because James and Evelina seemed to be in a fight when he focused back in on their conversation. 

“Either way, what could we possibly be doing that isn’t allowed then?” James was screaming at her, and some of the Slytherins in the cabin next door were looking as though they wanted to poke their heads in. “You’ve  _ CHECKED _ us. You can’t kick us out, my friends and I were here first. Fair and square. LEAVE US ALONE!” 

“Actually, you are breaking rules,” Scorpius could hear the smile in Evelina's voice “I see that you lot are over the maximum capacity of a carriage by quite a bit.” James paled again as his eyes darted around the room, realizing that his best friends and cousins alone would have made up capacity just fine, but the girlfriends and friends of friends and other members of the ensemble and their various possessions left barely any room for James to be stepping closer to her to respond.

“Leave, now.” He first addressed the multitude of people occupying the space, adding on when the core group were reluctant to leave, “All of you. Leave. It’s my fault I dragged you all back here. Go to the Captains and Club cabin or find Bentley. Leave.”

Ignatius was none too pleased to be kicked out of the cabin he and his friends had fought tooth and nail for since their first year. The last cabin on the train was nearly always the most coveted. As he was eventually the last one out, he slammed the door shut behind him which caused the blinds to come down hastily and rushed past Scorpius, bumping his shoulder, and followed his friends further up the train. 

Coming in from where Ignatius had just disappeared, Scorpius heard a voice scolding his peers back into their compartments and another voice that was very close to his ear, leaving a shiver down his spine. 

“Shite, what’s James gone and done now?” Besides the minimal small talk they had done on the platform, this was the first chance Scorpius had to hear his friend’s voice. Attempting to do so in the least-flirtatious way possible, he leaned back against the owner of the voice and nodded in the direction of the cabin, mumbling something about a fight. 

Jamie, the seventh year Hufflepuff Albus had be paired with, tugged on the door until it flew open, revealing the Gryffindor and Slytherin considerably closer than they had been before, both their hands up in defense. 

“Were you about to  _ hit  _ her? Or were you about to hit  _ him? _ ” Albus cried out, head turning back and forth between the two, Jamie rolling her eyes and asking where the rest of the group went so she could write them up. 

Evelina flushed, embarrassed that she could have been caught doing something that would have put her in a great deal of trouble. “No need, Jamie, James Sirius has taken all the blame. Gryffindor will just have to take a bit of a hit in points.”

“Not that I won’t be able to win them back once the season starts, Quidditch games are worth more than what you decided-threatened me with,”

“You can go, and so can you,” Evelina said, turning to address Albus, “Scorpius, I’d expect family to hang around with the better Potter, yes, but I’m not sure how much longer we can assume that this one is just a bad egg. Wait here while I write him up please. By the time I’m done I expect we’ll have to be doing our second round again. I gave the sixth years off for these last carriages because I know most of them won’t have the guts to reprimand anyone older than them. You’ll want to get lunch when the trolley comes by. Grab me something as well, whatever looks like what our mums make.” Evelina pulled the door shut behind her, and obviously locked it magically from the inside, a few more yells sounded before another spell was cast that muffled them. 

Albus stood mouth agape and Jamie sighed and started walking away calling back to tell him she’d meet him back up front once he’d had a minute to process. Scorpius realized that his back was still pressed against Albus’ front, and that Albus’s chin was now resting on top of his, even as he finally closed his dropped jaw. Scorpius jolted away a bit too quickly and Albus’ reflects kicked in leading him to grab onto Scorpius’ wrists, finally pulling him into a hug. Before he could relax into him Albus pulled back and looked at him quizzically.

“What’s she on about family?”

“Evelina? She’s my cousin. Her and Rowan. My mother’s sister, Daphne. Her children.”

“Why did I not know that?”

“Because I figured you knew but just didn’t care. We look a fair bit alike, we’ve always been friendly. Maybe your two brain cells couldn’t rub together fast enough to put that together, though.” Scorpius had been inching closer to Albus the whole time, regretting that the embrace was over. Now he was regretting inching closer because upon those words Albus grabbed him again and started to rub his knuckles into his blond scalp, some kind of Muggle intimidation device used by bullies. He was very angry that Albus was a head taller than him. Scorpius was always taller until fourth year, when Albus skyrocketed and Scorpius became stagnant. Another reason why Albus was the athletic one. 

“You just love to be a little tease don't you?” Albus’ comment upon release had been very, well,  _ sexually  _ charged. Or at least Scorpius thought so. Or at least Scorpius’ pants thought so. Albus must have realized his slip as he blushed feverishly and started backing up, throwing a crumpled up ball of paper at him with his goofy grin returning as Scorpius fumbled it-again,  _ Albus _ was the athletic one. By the time Scorpius had bent down to pick it up, all he noticed of the retreating brunette was that he hadn’t changed out of those damn tight Muggle jeans. Scorpius was unbelievably grateful that every compartment in the carriage had it’s blinds down, and that he had changed into his forgiving robes. 

The note barely had more writing on it that his had, and it was obvious by the content and extreme messiness of it that Albus had written it at some very recent point in time.

_ We’ve both got our work right cut out for us. Meet me in our place after the feast, after we escort our prisoners-FIRST YEARS-to the rooms. I have happened to stumble upon some fine riches recently, and the trolley lady had your favorites.  _

He was blushing, and he might have had the time to stop and wonder why Albus had let Scorpius lean on him for so long  _ and  _ pulled him back in when he stepped away if it wasn’t for the trolley lady coming by at that exact moment with some delicious looking Pumpkin Pasties.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Like I said earlier, I've done a lot of fiddling with characters in this chapter. Some will definitely become very important later and some will definitely fade into the back. Still no beta, mistakes are guaranteed. I hope you are all enjoying this mess thus far! Tell me what you think if you feel compelled. Obviously, this story will eventually lean into Albus/Scorpius, but not quite yet. (Chap. title lyrics from All Time Low's "Missing You" as I am not creative enough to just come up with them on my own)


	4. James and Company

James wasn't much of a spy. Not really. He'd been given the Mauraders map by his father in his first year and he had only used it to spy on people a total of six times. Six times in six years (so far) was not bad at all. And it wasn't like he limited himself to one spy a year, two of them had been first year and the other four had been fifth year. He never really spied. Not really. The first time had been to see what house the pretty girl he met on the train had been sorted into. He had been too nervous about his own placement to pay any attention. That second time in first year was the close study of Headmistress McGonagall that he and his friends did to make sure they'd be able to sneak around her. Fifth year he became borderline obsessed with the pretty blonde girl from the train first year. It all started because he happened to be glancing at the map trying to find the best route to class and he saw her name alongside a Ravenclaw’s from their year. He'd heard rumors that the two were dating and he was only a little bit jealous. So he'd spied on her a few more times. Coincidentally, he thinks had been spying when they had broken up, based on when the news about the couple ending spread the school. He was only a little bit ecstatic. But he gave up on the obsession and he never spied on anyone anymore. 

Until he saw his brother and the Malloy kid slip off after the Opening Feast up into a tower that was not Ravenclaw and most definitely not a shortcut to the dungeons. 

So he abandoned his own spot near the actual entrance to the dungeons and told Ignatius he'd send the boys a letter with plans as soon as he could. “Don't forget this-” Iggy called after him, throwing a maroon leather bound book into his hands. James smiled to himself as he recounted the memories of the books. And slowly he climbed the stairs to his home. 

Although him and all three of his best friends were truly all at the same level of favoritism and friendship, Ignatius and James were probably the two very best friends, by a nanometer. They were the first two that had met of the group-they'd rushed to the back of the train and claimed the back compartment together. James couldn't pronounce Ignatius at 11 years old. He'd been calling him Iggy ever since. 

It was almost perfect how each of them had been put in each of the houses, it was somehow easier to maintain a friendship when you weren't constantly at each others’ throats. This was something they all learned the hard way when Trevor’s family took them all to the Quidditch World Cup the summer after their third year. It was one of the best weeks of their lives, but god were they sick of one another. 

Weird, though, was how they fit into their respective houses. Trevor--Hufflepuff--was the most spoilt out of the group. He was from a long line of incredibly wealthy Hufflepuffs and he was a bit snotty at times. But he was the funniest person you could ever meet. He was an only child and apparently had been to one or ten too many adult parties as a kid and his inappropriate wit had developed then. Michael was the laziest Ravenclaw to ever exist, but he was one of the top five in their year regardless. If he put in even a little work and actually handed in his homework he'd be the top spot easily, but his philosophy was that if he could get all O’s without ever studying then why bother? He was naturally the brains behind most operations. And Ignatius juxtaposed all Slytherin norms by being a poor muggleborn. Or at least a half-blood, his father left when his mother found out she was pregnant. And he never mentioned anything about wizardry. He was just “an average dead-beat,” according to Iggy’s mom. Because of this he was a major mamas boy but he upheld the Slytherin trait of loyalty like no other. 

And that's where the journal thing started. Iggy’s mum didn't have enough money for him to send letters every week, so she bought him a journal that he could write to her in, and she could have it when he was home and he'd take a fresh one back to school until the next holiday. This was foiled when Trevor came up with the idea that the boys would correspond with one another and pass the journal whenever they saw each other in classes or halls. Iggy was incredibly upset at first, but Trevor replaced the original cheap black book with three high quality hardbound editions. They ran out of space in the first book within a week. So they took turns buying new ones of all different varieties. Over six years they'd accumulated more than 100 journals of various size, color, pattern, etc. with their recounts. Every year they'd spent the whole last day leading up to the feast (and sometimes through it) reading through the books. 

Possibly the best part of all of it was the fact that you'd always have one of your friends in class with you. So for example, Iggy would have the book overnight and see Trevor in Herbology and give it to him. When Trevor had Transfiguration with James he'd pass it on. And finally James kept it until he dropped it off at the Ravenclaw dinner table with Michael, who would start the process all over again the next day. Because of the constant updates, their journals were complete accounts of life at Hogwarts during their time there. Sometimes they'd be passing each other in the hall and demand the journal, needing to write something some immediately. 

James completely forgot that he was going to spy for the seventh total time on his brother and Malfoy when he collapsed into his bed and began laughing out loud and Iggy’s first entry of their final year. 

Boys boys boys. Can you believe Jammy P let us get kicked out of our cabin by Eve?? Honestly James, just because you're whipped doesn't mean we all have to be! Anyway. Best thing I've seen so far today was easily Ernest Wenext’s little sister getting sorted into Gryffindor while he clung onto his blue sash as if life itself depended on it. I'm disappointed in the overall level of pranks--rather the lack thereof. I don't think Halloween can come fast enough. I've got all the sixth year journals organized in the trunk finally, so you may all feel free to come admire the beauty this weekend for the initial new term bash. Haven't had it in the Slytherin Common Room in quite some time, yeah?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is short I'm sorry


	5. Only A Quitter Would Let It Go

Al was beyond tired, beyond behind on schoolwork, and beyond angry. And it hadn't even been a full week since the term began. It was Thursday morning and Al was trudging down the dungeon steps, having forgotten a bit of homework in his room the previous evening. He had at least an hour of detention duty every night on top of the ridiculous homework for his O.W.L.s preparation. The exams were nearly a year away--why were the professors already piling it on?

To add to this madness, the Slytherins and Ravenclaws only had one class together: Potions. Al wasn't horrible at it, but Scorpius was obviously very good. And Professor Bennick (new head of Slytherin) liked to pair people of better skill with those of lesser. So Scorpius was with one of the worst potion makers and Al was in the middle, randomly getting paired with Lucy, his fellow prefect. Lucy was good at measuring and Al was good at timing and proper technique, so they were a good match. 

But obviously it wasn’t as good as being with Scorpius, who was partnered with Cecily Berbeck, the dimmest Slytherin in their year. She was pretty, though. Long, ebony hair that shone almost blue in the dungeon lamps. Albus knew realistically he had nothing to worry about, but he was still jealous of someone spending time with his best friend. Whenever he saw Scorpius laughing and smiling at her, he forced himself to remember the day nearly a year and a half ago when he had been pressuring Scorpius to ask a girl to Hogsmeade weekend and Scor screamed in his face “I’M GAY YOU IDIOT” Albus had been taken aback, sure, but he was mature for a thirteen year old. And he had been questioning his own sexuality. He came out as bisexual to Scorpius and Lily at the end of the last year, and he told his mother when he was home, but no one else knew yet. It wasn’t something he needed to be open about like Scorpius did. Wizarding sexuality was generally pretty weird and no one much cared whether someone was gay or not, but truthfully Albus was scared what James would think. When he and Scorpius were first years James had been rude about some same-sex couples attending that year’s Yule Ball, but maybe he was just jealous no one had invited him when many other third years had been. At any rate, Albus was fine. Wished he was with Scorpius, but otherwise fine. 

At the end of the lesson Albus and Lucy had received an “O” for the day, and walked together to the Great Hall where lunch was about to be served. It was hard for Al to imagine Hogwarts being the way it had been when his parents were enrolled. Besides the near constant death threats, the atmosphere seemed all too rigid for wizards. He supposed instilling good values and discipline were of value, of course, but they had enough of that in their coursework. The thought that it was uncommon (and in fact really not allowed) to mill about and sit at other House tables was so odd to Albus and his peers. Well, for breakfast and lunch, at least. At dinner everyone generally sat with their House as it was the only mandatory meal of the day and was therefore when any administrative announcements were given. But Al couldn’t have been happier with the new-age rules when Scorpius plopped down next to him ten minutes later.

“You smell.”

“That’s not much of a greeting,” Scorpius began, but ultimately ceased his rebuttal when a bowl of fried, diced potatoes appeared in front of him. Even though he was at the Slytherin table, the magic of the castle knew he needed his favorite comfort food after that lesson. 

“Fine. Hello Sir Malfoy!” Albus laughed as Scorpius rolled his eyes. 

“I have good news,” Scor managed through bites of potato, “I asked my cousin if she could put us on the same detention shift, so now we both have Tuesdays and Thursdays ten to eleven.”

“WHAT?? Ok, ok, no, that’s great, obviously, but that’s so late! Right up to Common Room curfew!”

“We’re prefects, pee-brain, we’re allowed to be out past curfew. And being the last shift means we’d never have to do night patrol on those nights.”

“Oh, that’s good then. What night were we assigned.”

“Erm, well,”

“Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy I swear to Merlin--”

“I’M SORRY! Friday night was the only was Evelina would make the trade for!”

“I’m going to kill you.”

“But we’ll be together at least, that’s worth it, isn’t it?”

Albus knew Scorpius was joking with the baby tone and puppy eyes, but the way his stomach flipped was most certainly not a joke. At all. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Scorpius’ excitement for the upcoming year dwindled quickly by the end of the day for three reasons. 1) He had received a P on his first Alchemy homework assignment. 2) Because of this, he received a note from McGonagall saying that if he couldn’t handle the course load he could drop it and try again next year, meaning she was disappointed in him. 3) He had to drag his academically depressed body to the dungeons to oversee detention. 

This last thing would have normally lifted his mood completely, considering the fact that he was with Albus, but that was not the case. Thursday night detention was for lack of better phrasing a complete shite-show. 

They’d both been on various shifts the whole week because train detentions generally lasted the first two or sometimes three weeks but similarly to how the troublemakers always sat at the back of the train, they always had the latest detentions. Normally prefects oversaw two detentions a week. These would be populated first by whomever that specific prefect wrote up, second by whomever couldn’t attend their assigned detention for whatever reason. In special circumstances groups were given different detentions if friends needed to be separated, but everyone was allowed to miss their assigned detention a certain amount of times as long as they made up the detention by the end of the week. Which means that the majority of people who procrastinate their detention end up going on Thursday night to avoid waking up early on Friday or missing out on Friday night plans. 

This makes Thursday night ten to eleven hell. And Scorpius had forgotten about that fact. 

“So we got shafted with the worst time slot and we have patrol on the worst day too. No wonder Evelina let you switch.” Albus wasn’t having a good day himself, but Scorpius didn’t think it was fair to completely take it out on him. 

“It was YOUR brother and his friends who made it so bad. Maybe they should have gone to their assigned detentions.”  
“Oh, yeah? And it was YOUR cousin who wrote them up in the first place. If she had just left them alone we wouldn’t have had to deal with it at all.” The spite in both of their voices only further enraged them. 

“It’s her job to write up people who break the rules. I should have written them up again tonight! There’s no reason for missing the assigned days. Their excuses were garbage.”

“Trust a couple of Malfoys to enforce their power..”

As soon as it came out of his mouth Albus’ eyes widened and he was about to apologize when he realized he was angry and he wasn’t going to suck up to the guy who had ruined every Thursday night for the rest of the semester. 

“Ok. Goodnight Albus.”

“Yeah. Night Scorpius.”

Scorpius turned on his heels and paced away from the dungeons swiftly, trying to hide his tears. It was the first time in a long time that Albus hadn’t insisted or even OFFERED to walk him up to Ravenclaw tower. The hurtful words they had both said aside, this meant that they were in a fight. A real one. They’d only ever had two big fights. Scorpius had a feeling that third time was not the charm.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh no, teen angst!!!! Hope you enjoyed this chapter of me messing with canon and probably making a lot of mistakes :) also I thought it was so much longer than it actually is so I'm sorry I'll work on getting another one out asap if you want it!


	6. Chapter 6: Gregory’s Unctuous Unction

Albus- I’m sorry I blew up last night. I talked to Evelina after I left, I knew she’d be awake and not in her dormitory. There’s a place her and Rowan took me to once that they used as their secret Malfoy lineage hideout. I can show you sometime if you’d like. Some power-trip, eh? Maybe it’s too soon to be making a joke. But really. I don’t want us to be mad at one another. We were both tired. And pissed off. Anyway, she said she was terribly sorry and that she had forgotten how bad the first couple weeks of Thursday night detention can be. To make up for it we’ve been relieved of night patrol entirely--unless something even worse than last night happens. That is of course if you’d like to stay on as my detention partner. Which I would obviously like very much. Okay. I hope to see you tonight for the annual start of term celebration. 

Al was gritting his teeth and rolling his eyes through breakfast after the owl had delivered the scrap of paper. He had originally regretted the fight and in fact went to chase after Scorpius when some time had passed, but he wasn’t in the corridor he should have been if he were heading to Ravenclaw tower, so Al rightfully assumed he’d have found someone else to prat on with. He didn’t want to fight with his best friend, sure. But if there’s one thing Albus Potter could do, it was hold a grudge. 

He didn’t have much time after breakfast to dwell on this, though. In Herbology, Professor Longbottom’s lecture on the medicinal properties of Germander was riveting, truthfully. Albus was almost more engaged than Rose. This was a shocker because since conception her goal had been Head Healer, and Al was truthfully lost in career aspirations. He supposed up until fifth year he’d had some time to decide. But time was running out. His father had his career perfectly lined up as an Auror, and this mum had more than enough gold from her Quidditch days to retire the lot of them. Even though James seemed to be wholly disorganized he had wanted to work at the Daily Prophet since he started at Hogwarts, for some reason. Lily did have time ahead of her, but wand to her head she’d make an amazing Auror. Hugo wanted to work in Creature Advocacy. Even Louis and Fred both knew they’d be taking over the joke shop. Albus was really the only person in his family who didn’t have at least an idea. 

That’s one of the things he liked about Scorpius. One of the things he liked the most. Both of them didn’t have it figured out. Albus admittedly didn’t have much direction, and Scorpius was truly too good at everything to settle on one choice. They’d made a pact that if they couldn’t find anything to do ten years after finishing school that they’d come back and teach. Scorpius would be an amazing teacher at anything, the Headmistress was already practically scrambling to hire him, and Albus wouldn’t be half bad at Charms. But he was half bad at not thinking about Scorpius. He was about to be mad again. 

He didn’t technically have to see him until next week Tuesday in Potions, but he knew Scor would try and find him at lunch. So he went back down to the dungeons once Care of Magical Creatures was over. All three of his roommates were going back as well, which made it easy to avoid the pack of Gryffindors and Ravenclaws coming down the stairwell from Transfiguration. Rose and Scorpius were deep in conversation, but his mind in particular was obviously elsewhere. Al tuned back into whatever Aslan, Pete, and Casper were saying. 

“I think this’ll be the best one yet!” Caspar’s elf-like ears were more turned out than usual, in excitement. 

“I doubt it’ll be better than two years ago in Hufflepuff. Right by the kitchens is the perfect place for a party.” Pete was scratching his shadowy beard with obvious ponder. 

“But there likely won’t be any noise complaints since we’re so far under everything. The louder the better!” Aslan and Caspar high-fived.

“Have you forgotten that Evelina and Tibus exist? There’s no way those two would let this happen.” Albus had to chime in, knowing how strict the both of them were , especially in light of recent events. 

“Ty is pissed that he didn’t get Head Boy and Evelina has to patrol tonight. She won’t even be back down here until the party’s all cleared out. Shrivelfig.” Aslan was incredibly matter-of-fact, both as he relayed the information and gave the password to Slytherin’s common room. 

“How do you know she’s on patrol?” Al responded as they walked down the corridor to their room. 

“Simple,” Casper slid open the door and stepped down into the chilled room, “I heard from Ignatius, who heard from your brother, who heard from Bentley.”

“I highly doubt Bentley would have known that, though.” Albus was puzzled, to say the least. Bentley Pritchett was a sixth year Hufflepuff who seemed to be friends with everyone. Or at least he was a friend of a friend of everyone. He had all the gossip at Hogwarts, and was therefore a very valuable asset to James and his friends, but Al still doubted he’d have been able to know the prefect schedule considering it had just changed last night. 

“He knows everything. Hey, wanna know what I’d like to know? Why are you down here anyway.” Pete never seemed to take his hand off of his beard.

“I wasn’t hungry.” Albus responded defensively. 

“Hmm, yeah. Alright.” Though Al had turned over in his bed he could feel all six eyes boring into the back of his head. He was fairly good friends with all three of his dormmates, but they knew that he always ate lunch with Scorpius. It was a fair thing to raise an eyebrow at. 

Normally Al would enjoy the double lesson of Defense Against the Dark Arts, but he was of course incredibly distracted today. Whenever he started to think about Scorpius, he tried very hard to Not Think About Scorpius. So he ended up thinking a lot about the party. Every year, the first Friday of the term, Jay and his friends threw a massive party in one of the dorms. Well, they weren’t massive in the beginning. The first two years the party (held in Gryffindor and Slytherin, respectively) was really just the four friends. Their third year was the first success, held in Hufflepuff. Their fourth year was the worst of them all. They were thick to have it in Ravenclaw Tower at all, even just for thinking about it. The next year they did Hufflepuff again, hoping to regain some credit, and last year had been Gryffindor again. They obviously weren’t going to make the Ravenclaw mistake again. So the final bash was home at Slytherin. 

Al had only been to two of the parties. The first Hufflepuff was in his first year, and it was him talking up his brother that made it a success (at least Al thought so). And then second year Al wasn’t trying to attend the Ravenclaw party, he was on his way somewhere else when he got roped in. It was an utter disaster, and Scorpius would later admit to Al that he thought Albus was just as quote “moronic” as James. Albus didn’t really blame him, though, considering that party was before they were officially best friends. And then he had to hit himself in the head for somehow having brought his thoughts back to Scorpius. 

Just his luck, once he was down in the Great Hall Scorpius descended on him like locus. 

“Did you get my note?” He was obviously frantic, but trying to remain calm.

“Uh, no. Must have missed it.” Albus was a terrible liar. Thank Merlin Scorpius was terrible at telling him out.

“Oh. Well. Evelina said we’re off duty for patrol if we decide to keep our shifts. And I’m sor-” 

“Yeah she told me that when I was in our common room over lunch.” Albus felt rude interrupting him, but he didn’t want to do this right now. 

“Okay. Um. what do you suppose the announcements will be tonight?” Scorpius was nervous and flustered as he gestured toward the Headmistress’ podium. Albus humored him away, taking a look at the regular commotion about the professor’s table. He pretended not to notice that Scor had taken a vial out of his pocket and made a quick move for the drinks. 

“You better get back to your table then, yeah?” Albus was frustrated. 

“Oh, right, yeah. Sorry. See you tonight?” Scorpius lingered for a few moments, hoping for an answer that they both knew he wouldn't get. They also both knew that Albus was likely more in the wrong than Scorpius, but Scor would still be the one trying to make things right. Albus didn’t really think spiking his drink with some kind of forgiveness potion or whatever Scorpius had was the right way to make things right. So he tapped the goblet with his wand, emptying and replacing it with a fresh portion of pumpkin juice. 

If only he had been that smart about his beverage choices all night long. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Scorpius didn’t want to drug his best friend. But he wanted Albus to actually be his best friend again. So he justified it. He hung around in the Great Hall just long enough to see that Albus took a sip from his goblet, then he all but ran up the six flights of stairs, past the entrance to his common room on the fifth floor, down another corridor and up another spiral staircase that landed him in a small circular room with just about enough space for two people to squeeze in. 

It was where he and Albus had first met. Back in his first year, he had been briefly overwhelmed being away from home and surrounded by so many people, and he had accidently gone up too many floors on his way back from lunch. It was a warm September afternoon and many students were outside enjoying the lake and playing games. That’s what made it weird when another young boy hurried down the corridor, through a small alcove that Scorpius would have never noticed otherwise. He lingered before approaching and realizing that the door led to a staircase. He didn’t know what was up there, and though he was curious, he had been taught not to stick his nose in places he didn’t belong. As he was about to turn away, he heard whistling and birds chirping from what he assumed was the top of the staircase. And he decided the other boy was sticking his nose where he didn’t belong, and so that justified things. 

He wasn’t trying to sneak up on the kid, but based on his reaction, he wasn’t expecting company.

“Flipping hell! You almost gave me a bloody heart attack!” The screaming caused all of the birds perched on the window sills to fly away in haste. 

“...sorry, but what exactly are you doing up here?”

“I could ask you the same thing! Merlin, does no one in this castle respect people’s privacy!”

“I’m sorry! I got lost and saw your come up here and I wasn’t going to follow you but I heard the birds and wanted to see what was up here.”

“Right. And you’ve now helped me scare them off, so thanks for that.”

“I am sorry, but why are you up here, then? How did you even find this place?”

“My brother told me about it. He’s a third year. I’m a first year. Judging by the fact that you got lost I’d assume you are too.”

“Yeah. I am. Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy, Ravenclaw.”

“Yeesh? All three names?”

Scorpius blushed, “It’s a habit. That’s what my parents always wanted me to say.”

“I’ve heard the name Malfoy before. My uncle’s said it like it’s a swear word.” The two boys stared blankly at one another before the shorter one continued, “But I think he’s a git sometimes. I’m Albus Severus Potter.”

“Three names?”

“It felt right since that’s what you did. Can I call you Scor? That seems like a cooler name.”

“Erm--well, I supposed, but--”

“Great! It’s settled then. Say, what’re you doing Friday night? My brother and his friends are throwing a party in Hufflepuff basement. 

“You’re a Hufflepuff?” Scorpius was confused. 

“No, no. I’m a Slytherin. My brother is a Gryffindor but he’s got friends in all of the houses. It’s a long story.”

“Oh. Speaking of stories, you never explained why you were here. Just how you knew about it.”

“The dungeons are dark and cold. My family lives in the countryside in a big meadow with green grass and warm sun and...well. It’s just different. I miss looking out windows and seeing the sky.”

Scorpius almost teared up at the memory. He did end up going to the party but hadn’t had a very good time, considering he didn’t really know anyone and most of the people were very loud and boisterous. He only saw Albus once, and he was surrounded by people. Or, he was one of the people surrounding his brother. From then on whenever Scorpius had an extra ten minutes he’d go up to that turret and see if Albus was there. He didn’t seem to need the comfort of a private getaway anymore, though. From the classes the Ravenclaws had with the Slytherins he seemed to be fitting in incredibly well. Professor Slughorn would pair the two up on occasion in Potions, trying to get Scorpius to convince Albus to come to his parties, and Albus suggested they meet up in the tower to do some homework once or twice, but other than that they didn’t see much of one another. 

The little room became a hideout for Scorpius soon enough. He found himself studying there everyday and eventually even found a way to further conceal the entrance (one of the ghosts helped him mount a tapestry over the alcove). It was closer to Ravenclaw tower than the library, and just as if not more quiet. He didn’t have a desk, so occasionally his neck would cramp up from looking down for so long, but it was worth it to have the perfect little place. 

It was almost the end of the year when Albus came up to Scorpius and asked him if the entrance to the tower had disappeared. Scorpius told him what the ghost and he’d done, and Albus was relieved but frustrated that Scorpius hadn’t kept him updated. They left off their first year both wishing the other had spoken to them more and they spent the entire summer wondering if they should write the other a letter. 

Scorpius had eventually caved mid-July. He was nanometers away from sealing the envelope and sending it away when his father gave him a letter addressed to “Scor”, saying “I assume this is for you?” Inside there was a slip of paper with a snake and a constellation. He immediately recognized his namesake collection of stars, and the passage Albus had written was a recollection of the first Astronomy lesson from the previous September. Professor Millick had the first years from all four Houses together for that first lesson so that she only had to explain how to use the telescopes once. After that, each House had separate viewing nights, because there weren’t enough telescopes to have more than one group at a time. Scorpius had been singled out in front of the whole class because not only did he already know how to use the telescopes, he successfully located multiple star clusters. Apparently that had caught Albus’ eye. He told Scorpius he’d found an old scope in his attic and would be bringing it in September so that they could see if their West Wing tower was a good stargazing spot. 

He didn’t respond right away because he didn’t want to seem desperate, but when he did write back eventually saying that he was excited, and that he had done research about Asp snakes, Albus wrote him back the very next day! It was overwhelming to have someone who was eager to talk to him. They made plans to sit together on the train, and after that they became friends for real. 

Whenever Albus had the time to journey all the way to what was basically one of the top corners of the castle, they’d meet up and study, talk, relax. Even when things got hectic and busy, they made a point to star gaze the first Friday night of every month. If Albus didn’t come tonight, it would be the first time ever that either of them would be missing it. But Scorpius had slipped him the friendship potion, so there’s no reason for Albus to still be mad at him. 

The hours had slipped by so quickly that Scorpius was legitimately shocked when he checked his pocket watch to discover that it was nearly midnight. He had been sitting up in the tower for roughly four hours. Just thinking. And looking at the sky. Waiting for someone who obviously wasn’t going to show up. He stood up to dust off his legs when he heard movement on the stairs. Very suddenly (in a similar way that Scorpius himself has first interrupted Albus and the birds) Albus burst through the darkness and landed on a heap on the floor. 

“I-HK-thought-HK-there was anoth-HK-er step” Albus had obviously been drinking. He reeked of Firewhisky and he was slurring his words as he stumbled to get up, while hiccuping. “I know you tri-HK-ed to give me happy make up potion but I-HK-didn’t drink it.”

“Albus, you’re wasted. I’m going to take you back down to the dunge-”

“NO! No stop I need to talk about-HK-what I did because I was a right git and I’m sorry I shouldn’t-HK-have done that,”

“It’s okay, Albus. We both said stupid things. I shouldn’t have tried to use magic to fix things either.”

“Well no I didn’t take it-HK-because I knew I wanted to forgi-HK-ve you without it and I got to thinking while I was at Ja-HK-mes’ party that a friendship potion wouldn’t work on me anyway because I don’t want to be friends”

“Albus what? What are you talking about I-” Before he could finish his sentence, Albus had taken Scorpius’ face in his hands and was kissing him. Outright Albus just started snogging him. Scorpius thought his heart was going to explode.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wowwww.....they did that. Let me know if you guys are liking it so far! Also let me know if I've made any glaring errors! This was hopefully a good one..!


	7. Like Brother, Like Potter

Rose was clever. Almost too clever, really. The Sorting Hat had a terrible time deciding what to do with her, but the Weasley Gryffindor legacy was not something Rose wanted to break. Because of her immense cleverness, though, she rarely found herself in an awkward situation. Tonight was an exception. 

She had planted herself near the not-so-secret dungeon entrance that she knew Evelina Errested used most commonly in order to ask a few questions and maybe pick her brain for how to become Head Girl. What Rose had not planned was Evelina already being with someone else, two someone else's, namely Margaret Yates and Jaime Hansel. Margaret was the girl’s Gryffindor seventh year prefect and Jaime was the same for Hufflepuff. Rose had never really talked to Jamie, but she was almost positive that Maggie didn’t like her. Most likely her cousin James’ fault, considering those two were in the same year. 

But somehow, both Maggie and Eve greeted her happily and Jamie introduced herself very nicely as well. 

“Are you headed up to the tower, Rose? I might just go with her then, guys.” Maggie did look exhausted, but Rose didn’t want to leave just yet. 

“I was actually hoping I could talk to Evelina for a bit, but if you want someone to walk back with I would be happy to-”

“Oh, stop! We can all walk up there and then back down to Hufflepuff and then Rose and I can go back up again, as long as you don’t mind doing a few tedious laps. I have to do rounds tonight anyway.” These were the times Rose wondered how people could think Evelina was mean.

“I would love that, thank you!” 

“Okay, well, as long as you don’t tell Bentley-or anyone else for that matter-any of what you’re about to hear.” Jaime raised her eyebrows and the other girls started to laugh. 

By the time they had walked all the way to the Fat Lady’s portrait, Rose felt like she never had before. Like she was truly being included in a group of all girls. Her dorm was one of the smallest in the whole school, at the moment. It was just her and two other girls who had been sorted to Gryffindor their year, and they had become attached at the hip immediately, leaving Rose out of most things. She didn’t mind much the first three years or so. She was in a group of people from all the Houses, mainly from study groups and clubs and she loved her friends, but once fourth year rolled around a lot of them started to pair off. Rose was more interested in school than dating, and she was isolated for a bit. Thankfully by then Lily and Hugo were there as well, but family wasn’t always the same as an unbiased friend. Especially considering Lily was closer with their other cousin Roxie, and Hugo was an annoying little brother a good portion of the time. 

It was fun to gush about their hair and gossip about boys and complain about teachers. Rose felt like a normal teenager. They dropped Maggie off and had nearly done a full loop of the upper floors before she remembered that she had wanted to ask Evelina a million things. 

“Is it hard being Head Girl?” The question would have seemed like an odd blurt-out if the girls hadn’t been jumping from topic to topic. 

“HAH! She just about hates it.” Jamie was nearly busting a gut.

“No, no. I don’t hate it. Some days I wish Ty had been chosen instead of Ben, or even chosen over me so that Jamie or Mags could have done it, but it’s not all bad. Usually Head Boy and Girl delegate everything to the prefects and take the credit, but Ben and I are both too much prefectionists, so we end up doing a lot more work than most.”

“Ugh, I feel like that would be me too. I want it so badly, not just for the title but to actually make positive change, you know?” Rose didn’t want to look as defeated as she probably did. 

“You already seem to be doing just that!” Jamie smiled encouragingly. 

“Yeah, Maggie was just telling us the other day how you’ve reorganized the Gryffindor bulletin and made the password code system easier for first and second years to memorize. You’re doing a great job.” Evelina and Jamie’s reassurance put Rose at ease. 

“You want to work at Mungo’s, right? I remember seeing you at a few information sessions last year.” Rose had known Jamie was interested in the Healing field as well as every other Hogwarts student who could be possible competition. 

“I do, yes. I want to specialize in Transformative and Experimental Magical Medicine, but it’s a hard program.”

“Yikes. Don’t I know it! I’ve applied to to London’s School of Magical Medicine for Potion Medicine. I just want to work in outpatient care for long term potion needs, but I won’t hear back until February and I’m bloody nervous.”

“You’ll be fine Jamie, even if you don’t get in at London. You have other offers!” Evelina went on to tell Rose that Jamie had been offered a full ride to the potions program at Madrid’s Magic Med School, but Jamie was insistent that she wanted to stay close. 

“Well, speaking of being far away, is it true you worked in Egypt this summer?”

“Oh Merlin, Rose, I don’t know why people say that’s a rumor. It was in the Prophet!”

“Eve, you’re the only wizard under 100 who still reads the Prophet. And your name was on the 87th page. On scrolling script. You practically had to spread the rumor yourself.” Jamie laughed and rolled her eyes. 

“I actually heard from Victorie at our Weasley family reunion, she said that you and Dominique were away together in Cairo.” Rose smiled to herself remembering how much fun the reunion had been the past few years. 

Vickie and Dom were Rose’s favorite cousins, save Albus and Lily whom she was likely closest to due to age and proximity. Uncle Percy had moved to France and his girls went to Beauxbatons, so they were a bit too prissy for Rose’s taste. Louis and Fred were in the palm of James’ hand, and Rose didn’t appreciate any of the three of them during the school year. When she wasn’t obsessing over some aspect of her education (which was rarely) she actually got along fine with all of them. But Vickie and Dom were her favorites. They were poised, elegant, and successful. If not for the Weasley joke shop, all three of her Uncle Bill’s kids would be headed for some Curse-Breaking program. It seemed to be a natural skill they had inherited from their father, and their ⅛ Veela looks from Fleur helped them pretty much get whatever they wanted. Victorie had traveled for about a year before settling down and working in-house at Gringotts on artifacts that couldn’t be fixed at their recovery site. She claimed that life abroad wasn’t for her, but everyone knew it was really so that she wouldn’t have to be long distance with Teddy. He was sort of like a cousin to Rose too, considering he had been raised by Uncle Harry for a good majority of his life. But after Hogwarts he moved to a flat in London where he was moving up the ranks diligently at the Daily Prophet. This past summer he had officially proposed to Vickie and both of them were at the reunion, which made up for Dominique's absence. 

“Oh! I miss Dom terribly.” Evelina had been very close to both Gryffindor girls. When she was a first year, Vickie and Dom were fifth and third years, respectively. Dominique was Head Girl when Eve’s brother was Head Boy, and despite rumors of a relationship the two remained very good friends. “I was working at the same site as her, yes, but I was under a different project manager. I was pretty much a glorified assistant and she was in training, but it was so nice to spend evenings with her.”

“I miss them both, too. Especially since their brother is such a troublemaker.” They were just rounding the corner toward the Hufflepuff basement when Evelina gasped and cursed. She turned hot on her heels and started nearly spriting in the opposite direction. 

“I FORGOT JAY AND HIS FRIENDS WERE HAVING THAT STUPID PARTY IN SLYTHERIN TONIGHT AND THERE’S NO WAY I’M GOING TO LET THEM GET AWAY WITH IT AGAIN COME HELP ME PLEASE!!” Evelina was screaming behind her as she ran, and Jamie was already chasing after her before Rose truly appreciated what was going on. She starting running as well, while also pulling out her Prefect’s Map to see if anyone she knew was down there. Each prefect could only see people from their house on their map, and Rose’s stomach dropped when she saw the Slytherin dungeon light up with Gryffindor names, her brother being one of them.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

James hadn’t seen anyone that angry since his mum had found out about the chicken he and Lily had bewitched to grow extra wings. This was somehow worse, though. The minute Evelina walked through the door the entire party halted. Tibus Gern quietly retreated to his dorm despite Iggy’s frantic whispering “Ty, TY…..you bloody traitor.” Before anyone else could move Eve signed and waved her wand, barring the doors. 

“Hello everyone, sorry, party’s over. Um, okay. If you don’t live here and you’re capable of walking back to your dorm, Hufflepuffs go with Jamie and Gryffindors go with Rose, that’s ok guys, right?” Rose and Jamie both vigorously nodded their heads while Rose simultaneously worked to find Hugo among the crowds. “Michael, I guess I could offer to lower your point reduction if--” Just as she was about to try and convince James’ friend to be responsible for herding students up several flights of stairs, Scorpius and Al came stumbling into the common room right behind Jamie and Rose. Al was just as drunk as when he left the party, but James noticed he was leaning on Scorpius a bit odd. “Huh. Nevermind.” Eve continued, “Scorpius will take Ravenclaws back once he deposits Mr. Potter.” Albus ended up depositing himself, right on the ground. “You’ll have your wands scanned by them and appropriate punishment will be decided at the prefects meeting on Sunday. If you can’t walk all the way home, though, you can stay here. I’ll scan you.” Evelina then went over to the stretch of blank wall between the tunnels leading to the male and female dormitories, where she tapped the wall a series of times and another door opened. The magic of the castle caused a bit of creaking and movement until a room with enough cots for the severely inebriated students to stay overnight. 

She wouldn’t seem angry to everyone, but James knew Evelina very well. The calmer she was, the more livid she was. He was almost too preoccupied watching her control the partiers to notice that Scorpius was being too attentive to Al, and that Bentley, though drunk, was in the corner watching them as well. He was able to snatch the quill from Bentley’s hand just in time. 

“Don’t.” James whispered.

“Are you kidding me?” Bentley mumbled back. “We’ve all expected Albus swings that way for years now. When he left he told both of us he was quote ‘Going to get laid, dudes!’, you can’t expect me to not talk about this.”

Though James hated admitting it, he was fiercely protective of his brother. “What if I give you something better? A trade. To not tell anyone what you heard or saw or whatever about my brother.”

Bentley raised his eyebrow, “What do you have in mind?”

James took a deep breath, and before he knew it he walked across the room and grabbed Evelina’s arm. “Evie?” He spoke quietly still, hoping not to further aggravate her. 

She ripped her arm away and all but snarled at him. “Don’t call me that. I can’t believe you’d let everything get this out of-”

Before she could continue, James grabbed her face and kissed her. For a split second, she relaxed into him, but by the time everyone in the dungeon noticed she pulled back to reveal both of them blushing. Even being angry, Evelina would never publicly embarrass James by saying or doing anything mean in retaliation, which James knew before he took the impulsive and calculated risk. 

“Sorry.” James whispered as he gave her a quick hug, pried his sleeping sister off of one of the couches, and carried her past a clapping and laughing Bentley on his way out the door. 

Of course now he had to face Rose, who was brushing her hands through Hugo’s hair and all but screaming at James about how angry she was that he had let Hugo drink an alcoholic ButterBeer, which James genuinely had nothing to do with (he had a suspicion that the girl in his arms had snuck one for the both of them), but he had already taken the fall for one of his siblings tonight, so what was one more?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, yeah, if you didn't think Evelina and James were my end game, ok, yeah. I'm also making you all wait on Scorbus but tbh we all know I'm just writing this for me.


	8. You Owe Me

Albus woke up with a pounding headache, blue-green light pouring through the windows, and a little stack of papers tucked under his head, nearly slicing his cheek. Caspar was snoring across the room, but the other two beds were empty. This all meant a few things. First, Albus had obviously had too much to drink the previous night. Second, it was already so late in the day that the sun was at an angle over the lake that let light pour into the dungeon. Third, seriously, it was SO late in the day he missed Saturday morning brunch and therefore had missed his mail, most likely delivered by a fellow Slytherin who had woken up on time to catch the mail.

There were two notes on top of the stack that Al shuffled aside, recognizing the handwriting and not wanting to start with them. The next item was a familiar looking leaflet. It was the first “Hogwarts Hibbertigibbet” of the term. He skipped it over as well considering the former newspaper had been taken over by Bentley Pritchett and was now nothing more than a weekly gossip blotter. Finally, he had threeletters. One from his father, one from his grandparents, and one from his godbrother. He opened Teddy’s first.

_Al-_

_I hope your first week as prefect is treating you well! I’m sorry I wasn’t able to formally congratulate you. As you know I was on a special reporting trip and Vic and I left right after the reunion. I know James gets the paper daily but I’ve included a clipping here for you in case he doesn’t offer to borrow it. The real reason I’m writing you though is to ask that you join James and I in Hogsmeade at the end of the month. I'm coming to visit you two specifically and there's plenty I'd like to talk to you both about._

_-Ted_

Albus couldn’t help but smile (which aggravated his headache immensely). Teddy had always been closer to James, and possibly the closest to their dad but hearing from him always made Al very happy.

The letter from his Nan had mostly been praise about his successes and excitement for the Quidditch season. She wrote him weekly and occasionally Grandad would write a line or two, but he wouldn’t be surprised if all of his family had received carbon copies with names and exact events replaced out. Merlin, he loved the woman.

His dad also wrote him weekly. Though no one outwardly addressed it, Albus was unofficially Harry’s favorite. He and Ginny both wrote Lily and James frequently too, but James rarely replied to them. He had a sort of Too-Cool-For-Mum-And-Dad thing going on. Lily was their mum's carbon copy. Al suspected they had some kind of freaky telepathic connection. 

But Albus always wrote his father back. Usually immediately. Harry’s letter was similar to Nan’s, with the addition of some study tips and some betting money for when he played cards and Gobstones. 

Albus wanted to write all of them back, but he knew he couldn’t avoid the other two forever.

_Albus,_

_I don’t know how much you remember from last night. But we need to talk. As soon as possible._

_-Scorpius_

Albus _DIDN’T_ remember last night. He had memories up until about his fourth shot of FireWhisky, but from their it was a blur. He didn’t even think Scorpius was going to come to the party.

The final scrap of paper had James’ chicken scratch on it, and Al was not excited to read it. All it said was “Turn around, you bloody git.”

He did, and he almost had a heart attack when his brother came out from the shadows and held out a goblet of suspicious looking liquid.

“Drink this,” James said, “You owe me. Big time.”

“What’s...what is that?” Albus questioned. 

“It’ll help the hangover while I explain how badly you mucked up last night and then how perfectly I covered your arse.”

Albus drank the potion tentatively, and was shocked when it tasted of blackberry and lavender. His headache nearly immediately began to clear up. “How did you do this?” He asked.

“Not the right question. But if you must know, Teddy wasn’t always the best pseudo-big brother I could have ever asked for. He got himself into a pickle more than once in the two years we shared here and I ended up doing more work finding a good morning after cure than I did for my lessons. It’s a long story and I only have time for one of those today.” James was obviously frustrated, but he remained calm in his mannerisms. He gingerly took the empty goblet from Al as he continued. “I’m going to assume you don’t remember much from last night, so I’ll start at the beginning.”

“You came down after dinner and some people had already started the party. It was maybe quarter nine, but whatever. You started in with strong stuff straight away and I knew you’d be having a hard week so I didn’t do anything to deter you. Later on I was talking with Bentley about some plans for Halloween and you came up to us, I genuinely don’t think you even saw Bent, and said you were going to go get laid. The party got busted and you came back draped over Scorpius. I’m not as dumb as I look. Bentley was going to try and run with the story and I wasn’t going to let him--”

“Why? Because you’re homophobic?” Albus had been shocked at how kind his brother was without him knowing, and this quip was meant to be a half-joke, but it came off as more offended.

“What? Dear Merlin. No, you thick moron. You and Scorpius are both new prefects with decent futures ahead of you as long as no one was spreading rumors that you got bloody wasted and fornicated in the halls after curfew!” Albus mumbled an apology that James ignored as he continued. “I created a distraction so he wouldn’t ruin the next almost three years of your life, if not more, and then I had to carry our sister up to her bed. Then I went to Ravenclaw tower to find your bed buddy because I wasn’t going to take the fall for the entire Potter family without knowing what was on the line. Don’t worry. You didn’t sleep with him. You snogged him and then he took you back down here, so that conversation won’t be awkward at all, but basically the moral of the story is that you owe me. I don’t know how I’ll need you to repay me yet, but just know that you do. I’m leaving now.”

“Thank yo--, wait, James, stop! What did you even do?” Al’s headache was significantly better but he still got a bit dizzy when he stood up to catch his brother.

 James shook his head and turned to leave, calling back after him, “I’d read the Hibbertigibbet if I were you.”

Albus turned back to the paper and gaped in horror as he saw the main tagline “Rivals to Lovers? New Power Couple Potter and Errested Splash onto the Scene After Beginning Bash!” The story below recounted the “steamy” kiss the two had shared in the Slytherin common room, and included speculation about the relationship. Yep. Al owed James. Big time.


End file.
